by Sara Edmiston
When you visit one of our locations, you will see the shelves of new materials that have been added to the library system’s collections. New fiction is generally shelved on our “New” shelves for six months before being moved to the general collection. This ensures that you have ample time to find a new author or title in an easily browseable collection before it’s moved elsewhere.
This year I have the pleasure of ordering the new fiction for the library system. It can be a daunting task due to the sheer volume of fiction books that are released in a year, but luckily, there are a variety of tools readily available to assist with selection, and the library system has a collection development policy that guides all purchasing decisions.
I select books from a variety of genres, focusing on buying popular titles, bestselling authors, and filling requests. As you can imagine, historical fiction is a popular genre in Adams County, as is mystery fiction, but we also order romance, westerns, inspirational, science fiction, fantasy, and thrillers.
Thanks to BookTok, there are subgenres that combine two main fiction genres into one amalgamation. Romantasy, the combination of romance and fantasy, is one such subgenre that is growing in popularity by leaps and bounds. Other than BookTok, movie adaptations, celebrity book clubs, and major award announcements such as the National Book Award can drive interest in a title. Take a look at upcoming titles to Netflix, a good portion of those are, more likely than not, an adaptation of a book.
Other than BookTok, we use professional review sources when selecting new material for the library system, including Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal, Booklist, and Publisher’s Weekly. I also check vendor and publisher websites to keep up with publication dates, as they can change throughout the year.
I try to order fiction books a month before their release date. The books will then show in the catalog as On Order until we actually receive, catalog, and process them. Our goal is to have the books available to the public on their release dates. Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond our control, that doesn’t always happen, but we will get the book to the user as soon as we can.
So the next time you visit one of our libraries, take a few minutes to check out the New Shelves. You might just find a new author or series that could become a new favorite.
Sara Edmiston Public Services Director for the Adams County Library System.